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Bay Area Urology Specialists
Dr. Wei Zheng is board certified by the American Board of Urology and a fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the Endourological Society. Dr. Zheng specializes in minimally invasive treatment of kidney, bladder and prostate cancer, as well as benign prostatic hypertrophy. He is one of a few surgeons in the East Bay area who performs single stage percutaneous nephrolithotomy. Dr. Zheng completed his pre-medicine certification at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Staying true to his school, Dr. Zheng also completed both his general surgery and urological residences through an accelerated medical degree program at McGill.
Dr. Zheng was a recipient of the Olser Society Scholarship and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Scholarship for his outstanding research in juvenile diabetes. Furthering his interest in kidney stone management, Dr. Zheng pursued an Endourology Fellowship at University of Western Ontario, the premiere stone disease center in Canada.
Prior to joining Pacific Urology in May 2013, Dr. Zheng worked in hospitals in nearby Stockton, Calif. for more than 12 years.
Dr. Zheng is married and has two children. He enjoys running, skiing and spending time with his family.
Areas of specialty:
- Medical and surgical treatment for kidney stones
- Minimally invasive treatment of kidney, bladder and prostate cancer
- Benign prostatic hypertrophy
- Female urinary incontinence
- Male erectile dysfunction
- No scalpel vasectomy
In his own words:
"I love my job. I am very lucky to have a career that is rooted in a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction knowing that someone will feel better because of the work that I do.I am very much a ‘people person’ and enjoy interacting with all my patients. I feel that modern medicine sometimes loses focus of individualized medical care and that a patient-first emphasis is what separates a good doctor from a great one."
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Dr. Taylor received his bachelor's degree in psychology from UCLA, where he graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He received his medical degree from the University of California in San Francisco (UCSF), and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, awarded to the top 10 graduates in each class.
Following graduation he completed two years of general surgery residency, followed by four years of urology residency at the University of California Hospitals (UCSF, San Francisco General Hospital, and Fort Miley Veterans Administration Hospital). Dr. Taylor's areas of research were in prostate cancer, renal trauma, and urodynamics. He published one of the first articles describing the preservation of erections following prostate cancer surgery.
Dr. Taylor was among the first urologists in the San Francisco Bay area to utilize ultrasound imaging of the prostate and perform ultrasound guided prostate biopsies. He has personally performed more than 5,000 ultrasound-guided prostate biopsies. He has incorporated ultrasound imaging into many aspects of his evaluation and management of patients.
In 2001 Dr. Taylor began training in robotic surgery using the da Vinci Robot. He performed the first da Vinci Robotic radical prostatectomy at John Muir Concord Campus in 2002, and has performed hundreds of robotic prostatectomy procedures since then. He maintains the highest level of skills by attending "state of the art" training courses every year. A partial list of recent courses he attended:
- Third World Robotic Symposium, April 2008
- Intuitive Surgical: Special Course in Robotic Partial Nephrectomy May 2008
- American Urologic Association, Robotic Surgery May 2008
- Advances in the Treatment of Prostate Cancer, UCSF February 2009
- Fourth World Robotic Symposium, April 2009
- American Urological Association, Prostate Cancer and Robotic Surgery, April 2009
In addition, Dr. Taylor has extensive experience in microsurgery. He has been utilizing the operating microscope for vasectomy reversals since the 1980's, and has a success rate among the best in the United States.
Areas of Specialty
- Robotic surgery: robotic radical prostatectomy, robotic partial nephrectomy, robotic pyeloplasty, etc.
- Prostate cancer: evaluation, management and treatment
- Vasectomy reversal (microsurgical vasovasostomy)
- Infertility
- Evaluation and treatment of impotence and erectile dysfunction
In his own words
"I try to empathize with every patient. I personally know what it feels like to be a patient: the waiting, the uncertainties, the indignities, the loss of control, and the anxiety.
"The best thing I ever heard a patient say to me was 'Thank you for saving my life!' One Christmas day (which happens to be my wife's birthday, and I was not on call), I received a phone call from the high-risk obstetrician stating that she had a pregnant lady who was on "death's door", due to sepsis from an infected kidney stone.
"They tried to call in the doctor who was on call, but he refused to come in on Christmas day. So I went to see her, took her immediately to surgery, and removed the offending stone. She survived and went on to deliver a healthy baby girl several months later. She sent me the most wonderful thank-you note, expressing in heart felt terms her gratitude for saving both of their lives."
Learn more about Dr. Taylor's interests and accomplishments.
Watch a video about Dr. Taylor.
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Dr. Brandeis grew up in Manhasset, New York, and attended Brown University, majoring in American history and pre-medical studies. While at Brown, he competed on the track and cross country teams, as well as participating in triathlons, bartending for Brown Catering, and working as an EMT for a private ambulance company.
After college, Dr. Brandeis moved to Washington, D.C., to perform research on organ preservation for kidney transplantation at the American Red Cross. Later he attended Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, where he continued to compete in triathlons and hosted a weekly radio show on the Vanderbilt station, WRVU.
During medical school, Dr. Brandeis was awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Fellowship in Kidney Transplantation Immunology. He subsequently spent a year at Harvard Medical School developing new medications to prevent kidney transplant rejection. This experience attracted him to the field of urology, and he was accepted into the UCLA Department of Urology in 1995.
After two years of training in the UCLA Department of General Surgery, he spent four years as a urology resident, performing kidney transplants and developing an interest in urologic oncology. Dr. Brandeis spent a year on research, working with Dr. Mark Litwin on quality-of-life issues relating to the treatment of prostate cancer, winning multiple awards and more than $800,000 in grants for studies on the impact of treatment for early stage prostate cancer on quality of life.
Dr. Brandeis also learned from Dr. Shlomo Raz, the pioneer and father of the field of female urology, who taught Dr. Brandeis new and innovative techniques to treat female incontinence and to perform pelvic reconstructive surgery.
Joining Pacific Urology in 2001, Dr. Brandeis helped pioneer the robotic surgery program at Mount Diablo Hospital and became the first urologist in the Bay Area to perform a robotically assisted cystectomy.
At John Muir Hospital he has served as the Chief of the Urology Division and is active on the Oncology, Information Technology, Surgery and Communication committees.
Dr. Brandeis is married with four children, including twins. His wife is a dentist in Walnut Creek. He enjoys mountain and road biking, snowboarding, basketball and running.
Watch a video about Dr. Brandeis.
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In addition, he possesses extensive surgical experience in minimally invasive surgical procedures, including laparoscopic renal surgery (nephrectomy, partial nephrectomy, cryoablation/cryotherapy), laparoscopic prostatectomy and robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (a.k.a. da Vinci prostatectomy, robot prostatectomy), laser vaporization of the prostate and endoscopic kidney stone surgery.
Dr. Hopkins received his undergraduate degree cum laude (with honors) in kinesiology/physiologic science from the University of California-Los Angeles in 1990, where he was a Dean's Scholar for Academic Excellence from 1993-1994. He then earned a medical degree in 1994 from the Keck Scholl of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC). He completed his internship and residency in general surgery from the USC Department of Surgery.
Joining Pacific Urology in 2000, Dr. Hopkins was a driving force in helping pioneer the robotic surgery program at John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek and Concord. He has served as the Chief of the Urology Surgery Division and is active on the Oncology and Urology Center of Excellence committees at John Muir Hospital.
He has been published and has made several presentations to medical societies and associations. Dr. Hopkins is a board-certified urologist.
Dr. Hopkins enjoys the outdoors, baseball and golf.
Watch a video about Dr. Hopkins.
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Dr. Lieb's specific areas of interest include:
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He is also proficient in minimally invasive surgeries using laparoscopic and da Vinci robotic techniques, which provide for a more rapid recovery after treatment.
Dr. Lieb is available in the Concord, Walnut Creek and Antioch offices. He is licensed in the State of California, with hospital privileges at John Muir Medical Center, Walnut Creek and Concord campuses. He is board certified by the American Board of Urology.
In his own words
"What gives me most pleasure in my job is making my patients feel special and that someone cares about them. So many people are scared and afraid to see a doctor, it's so important to make every patient feel comfortable in the office, especially for surgery.
"The advice I give patients most often is, 'Please trust me. I am totally honest with my patients and I will let you know when to worry.'
"I've known I wanted to be a doctor since elementary school, where I enjoyed learning and being social. Also, my mother is a social worker, and I always learned the importance of helping other people. I used to joke in school that 'these are the hands of a surgeon,' and 20 years later it became true."
Watch a video about Dr. Lieb.
Be sure to check out Dr. Lieb's blog on Health News.
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He earned his bachelor of medicine and surgery (MBBS) and his master of surgery (MS) from Christian Medical College, Punjab University, Ludhiana, India. He then trained in the United Kingdom in general surgery and urology. He was named a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS), in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1990.
Dr. Sethi then completed a urology residency at the Division of Urology at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, and fellowship training in neuro-urology and urodynamics at the department of Urology, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, in Iowa City, Iowa. His main research focus was the prevention of urological complications in kidney-pancreas transplantations; he has published several articles on that topic. His special interests are:
- Neurourology and bladder dysfunction
- Incontinence and bladder reconstructive surgery
- Interstim Neuromodulation
- Minimally invasive, in-office BPH treatment including Prostiva and Prolieve
- Erectile dysfunction
- Minimally invasive stone surgery including endoscopic and percutaneous stone removal
In his own words
During the breadth of my education, I took an year off in medical school to volunteer my time to a charitable mission hospital in northern India. This experience instilled in me the importance of empathy and compassion towards fellow human beings.
I am always available to my patients, by phone, by e-mail and in person. I am a very compassionate listener. Best compliment I heard came from an 80-year-old patient, who suffered from incontinence all her life. Her quality of life improved so much after an InterStim implant that she said, 'Now I can trampoline with my grandkids!'
In my free time I like to travel, go hiking and spend time with my family.
Watch a video about Dr. Sethi.
